Beekeeper’s project aims to rebuild bee population, provide education

Friday

Gene Wall Cole has traveled thousands of miles and played with some of the country’s top musicians, but his grandparents’ 77-acre farm in Rutherford County kept calling him home.

After more than 30 years of performing on the road, he settled down on the property five years ago. He came home to reconnect with his parents, but being on the land also gave him an opportunity to pursue beekeeping, a passion he left behind to travel.

“I love bees,” he said. “I had my first hive after high school.”

His admiration and fascination with honey bees began when he was 8 years old and he visited his uncle C.R. Hames’ hives in Rutherfordton.

“I remember being fascinated right away,” Cole said. “He explained how gentle they really were if I wouldn’t pester them, and I’d learn how to understand them by the sounds they'd make.”

A safe place for bees: Over the last three years, he’s worked to create a bee sanctuary on the property that has been in the Wall family for more than 170 years. He began the work for his bee hives, but when one-quarter of the bees in America died because of Colony Collapse Disorder, he decided his work needed more attention.

“I thought about it, and if everybody created a bee sanctuary in their yard, it could be huge,” he said.

He decided to list his project, “God Save the Queen,” on Kickstarter.com, a website that helps people raise money for creative projects.

With the money Cole raises, he plans to make a documentary to show people how to create their own bee sanctuary, what kinds of plants to buy and the best places to put them in the ground. He will also set up live streaming bee cams on his property so that students and others can see the bees working in the hives. He will buy and set out more plants for his bee sanctuary, which will be a place families and individuals can come to visit and learn about bees. But he also wants to purchase a mobile viewing hive to take to schools, fairs and festivals to show others the fascinating work of bees.

Colony Collapse Disorder: While several large commercial beekeepers lost thousands of bees across the country, local beekeepers fared better, said Steve Gibson, a member of the Cleveland County Beekeepers Association and a retired Cleveland County Agricultural Extension Agent.

“North Carolina has not had a confirmed case of Colony Collapse,” he said. “We have lost a lot of bees, but that’s part of beekeeping.”

The local losses, Gibson said, were partly caused by a buildup of a miticide in the honey combs. Beekeepers don’t use the miticide anymore and the bees seem to be developing a tolerance to the mites, he said.

Gibson said beekeepers welcome programs that encourage people to plant honey bee sanctuaries.

He said the extra vegetation will fill in a gap left by the farmland coming out of the federal Conservation Reserve Program, which encourages farmers to convert cropland to vegetative cover, such as tame or native grasses, wildlife plantings or trees.

“Some but not all of the Conservation Reserve Land did have some nectar and pollen sources that was available to bees mainly in the late summer, early fall. This will be missed,” Gibson said. “The land that is coming out of the Conservation Reserve Program is for the most part being converted into cropland. The more common crop to be planted is soybeans, which only provide nectar to the bees for about two weeks. Cotton, on the other hand, blooms over an extended period, from July through mid September, and can be an important nectar source.”

Building the sanctuary: A documentary on Cole's Kickstarter page shows the work he has already done on his “Bee-Have Yourself Honey Garden and Bee Sanctuary.” He's planted vegetation bees, which like jasmine, blueberry bushes, herbs and sourwood trees. He’s cleared out the banks of a stream on the property and made a dam to create a small pond that will be used to provide water to the lawn and gardens. Three times heavy rains flooded the dam, but a civil engineer donated his time and the materials to create a spillway to remedy the problem.

Cole has also renovated a barn built in the 1800s, where he will keep his supplies and have a classroom in the loft. A root cellar he found next to the creek has been built up with rocks from the chimney in his grandfather's dilapidated house. He plans to use the root cellar as a greenhouse to grow plants for the property.

He’s created walking trails and a dog run on the property along with a labyrinth for meditation, making use of natural materials wherever possible. The stump of a walnut tree will become an outdoor table; rocks found in the field and stream are used for borders; and a row of grapevines and jasmine will create a canopy. He also used the grapevines to create two garden statues.

“I try to take everything natural and use it,” he said. “Everything will blend in with the environment.”

A small change in the way people mow their lawns could go a long way to help the bees, Cole said.

“I want to encourage them to leave a spot of forget-me-nots, clovers and dandelions and put up a ‘bee sanctuary’ sign,” he said. “I’d love to see it go viral. That one simple idea, if it caught on, would help them.”

Want to help? For more information about Gene Wall Cole’s Kickstarter project, go to Kickstarter.com and search for “God Save the Queen.” Cole has until Dec. 12 to raise $20,000 for the project. If he doesn't raise the total amount, then he will get nothing. More information is also available on www.facebook.com/beehaveyourselfhoney.

About Gene Wall Cole: The son of a strict military judge, Gene Wall Cole left home at 17, the day he graduated from high school. He began a performing career at fiddle festivals and fairs, playing a one-of-a kind stringed instrument given to him by a friend. The sound was a cross between a dulcimer, harp and a sitar. By the late ’70s, Cole’s music carried him to Nashville, where he recorded or performed with several musicians, including B.B. King and Neil Young.

He also played harmonica with Elvis’ bass player, Norbert Putnam, who nicknamed his one-of-a-kind instrument the “Dulsitar.” Months later he recorded the “Dulsitar” on a Jessie Colter album, which led to him joining the band of Waylon Jenning, Colter’s husband. While still living in Nashville, he met Stevie Wonder, who invited him to Los Angeles to help him with his music.

After a three-year descent into cocaine addiction, Cole survived a motorcycle accident and rediscovered his spiritual core through 12-step programs, men's work and mentoring programs. The results of which helped lead him to reconciliation with his dad.

He formed a 501(c)3 to help kids with ADHD and drug and alcohol abuse problems and at-risk youth and provide mentoring. He traveled the country nonstop for seven years in his motor home, looping the entire country four times. Needing a break from the road, he landed in North Carolina where his lifelong hobby, beekeeping, quickly became his passion.

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